Shedding Light on Freeway Illumination

Three tall poles dotting the on- and offramps at the Valley Circle interchange of the Ventura Freeway are a curious sight for motorists using the newly rebuilt interchange.

But there’s really no mystery.

The poles are high-mast lighting towers designed to illuminate the entire interchange, Caltrans spokeswoman Patricia Reid said. The poles were installed as a joint project between Caltrans and the city of Los Angeles’ Bureau of Street Lighting.

The Department of Water and Power is testing the lights, setting their timers and conducting burn tests, Reid said. They are expected to be in use within a few weeks.

The lighting towers were installed at that interchange to save energy and materials--three poles can take the place of about 50 traditional lights. The poles also are an efficient way to light up a large area.

“Between the streets, the ramps and the Valley Circle interchange structure itself, we would have needed many regular poles in that area,” said Hagop Tujian, a division manager with the bureau of street lighting. “This minimizes the number of poles we put there, while still creating an incredible unified lighting source there.”

City officials said this was the first time the lighting towers have been used for a city freeway, though they have been utilized on other highly traveled streets. The interchange currently has seven traditional lamps located on top of the signal lights, and those will remain after the new light poles are in use, Reid said.

“There is no problem with lighting,” she said. “These towers are just going to enhance the illumination in the area. They were put in with the horse trails and bike lane and pedestrians in mind.”

The poles are 100 feet high, have a ring of six 1,000-watt bulbs, and will illuminate the area from dusk to dawn with an amber glow. They will be set on a lighting timer that will vary with the seasons, Tujian said.